Ah, summer. In the midst of our lackluster winter, it is probably normal to be languishing. But for those of you missing hot sun, warm breezes, inviting beaches and the Frankie Avalon-style escapades they entail, stop dreaming: Tennis is coming to town. Though this band hails from the frosty heights of Denver, Tennis brings a little slice of summer wherever they go with their surf and ‘50s rock-n-roll-centered sound.
For guitarist Patrick Riley, who performs with his wife, vocalist Alaina Moore, and friend, drummer James Barone, touring is still a relatively new experience.
"It's hard to say I'm looking forward to being away from home for so long," Riley said.
At the same time, he acknowledged the necessities-and realities-of being on the road.
"We are definitely getting used to touring and [figuring] out ways to make it feel more natural to just be living in random hotel rooms around the country," he said. "It's getting to be more fun."
Riley spoke briefly about previous tours, one of which brought them through Madison.
"[There were] not many people in the audience," he remembered, "but everyone's interactive, so it was a lot of fun for us to have those shows."
Tennis is touring in support of their new album, Young & Old, which came out on Valentine's Day. The album has the same retro vibe-surf guitar, 50s backbeat and girl-group vocals-as its predecessor, Cape Dory, but with a bit more vibe and groove. This is attributable, in part, to Patrick Carney of Black Keys fame, who produced the album.
For Riley, Carney's presence was helpful, if not immediately noticeable during the process.
"He didn't really contribute that much to our sound," Riley said. "All our demos, which we had written before we went into the studio, actually sounded really similar to the album versions.
"Patrick Carney was the most supportive person we could have ever asked for. He was really there to show us what we were doing right, show us what we were doing wrong."
The other reason Riley and company opted for Carney on production was because of his experience in producing both his and other's music.
"He came from the background of self-production," Riley explained, "and we didn't want someone who will just take the reins of our band and completely transform our sound."
For Riley, Carney's work was in line with the rest of Tennis' catalogue. Cape Dory, for instance, was self-produced by Riley and Moore, who later brought on Barone as a drummer.
Riley stated Barone had background as an audio engineer and was also a personal acquaintance.
"I actually grew up opening for his band in high school," Riley said.
He added that they had never been close until the making of Cape Dory.
"We ended up calling him up and asking if he wanted to work with us and it's been the greatest relationship from there on out," Riley said. "He's very much an integral part of the band right now."
Moore and Riley, who met in college while studying philosophy, decided to form a band after voyaging up the East Coast for eight months in a sailboat. That experience inspired much of Cape Dory. Their new album, while not as biographical, does have a few thematic veins.
"There's definitely some coherence, there's overlap between songs," Riley said.
Riley said William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet and Nobel laureate, particularly influenced his wife.
"Alaina read a William Butler Yeats poem called, ‘A Woman Young and Old,' and that's kind of been the buttress for the album in a lot of ways," he said. "I think lyrically, she drew a lot of inspiration from that poem."
Wrapping up the interview, Riley explained the meaning of the band's name, based on a joke his wife made about Riley's tennis playing in college.
"I think from Alaina's perspective [it] is just like a rich white man's sport or something," he said. "But I think on a greater note, I think we picked it because it doesn't mean anything. Like, we just like meaningless band names."
